Process of treating oil



Patented `pr. 6i, 1926.

UNITED .STATESl GUSTAV EGLOFF, F CHICAGO, ILLINOS.

. rnocnss or TREATING on..

applicati@ mea April 2s, 1917,-'seria1iw 1e4,61 Reneweafseptember 27, 1922. seri'ar No. 591,003.

T o` all wwm'tmag/ concern.' Beit known that I, GUs'rAv EGLoFF, a c1t1- A,Len offthe United States, residing-in the city of Chicago, county'of Cook, and State of- -6 Illinois, have invented certain new and usclful-Improvements in Processes of Treating .Oils, of 'whichthe following 'is aspecification. n invention relates to improvements l in .vprocess oftreating hydrocarbony oils and refers 'more particularly to a cracking process by whic'hrelatively heavy hydrocarbons are converted into lighter boiling point hydrocarbons ofeither the saturated, unsatu rated or aromatic series. :The salient object. of the invention is'to accomplish this cracking operation to provide'new hydrocarbons of the character-def AV-sired by means of the use of: an electric arc seated in the body of the' oilv in `the still and in direct contact therewith. The process `arrledoutelther under a'vacuum, atmos-v plier- 1c pressure or at pressure 1n excess of atmospheric depending f'upon" the `-character' 2 5' of the low boiling point hydrocarbons which.`

Y 'The still, condenser and receiving 'tank are 3 5 fall in'iree communication with eachother. Preferably a'duplex condenser which may f take the- 'form of an aerial condenser kis 'interposedjbetween the' stil-l and a water or' 'similarcondenseixj The -electrodes`1 which 4Q `may b e carbon points are' suitably' mounted'- inthe still and'connected-toga'suitable motor.'

To more clearly-'- illustrate the invention, Ihave shown a drawingin which Fig-'1' is" -jfadiagr'ammatic' side elevation or'view of the apparatus4 and' Fig. 2 is' acrossv sectional view, and in -which'll designates the gfurna'ce,

inwhich' is mounted-.arstill v2, which may -be of thehoriz'ontal biler'type, or i-fdesired- V may-take the' form; of a watertube boiler type.; The still' 2is provided -w-ith a gooseneck 3" leading. to'- an' 'aerial condenser 4.

.This condenser, which-takes the formof an l'inclined pipe; is connectedbybrancli 5 toa ctfgndeliser coil-6, 'mounted 'in.condenser ,1'6 may be openedand the valves 19 and 20 boxes 7. The condenser bon is supplied With coolingmedium inv a wellknown manner.

The coil 6 is" connectedby pipe 8 through the receiving tank 9'. vTo-the upper end of the receiving tank 9 is connected a pump 10, by 60 means of pipe 11. lA gas' outlet 12 leads from the upper end ofthe tank andis controlled by valve 13. Draw off pipe 14 is con-v nected to the bottom of the tank and issimilarlycontrolled by a'throttle valve'15. 65 A valve 16 isinterposed in the pipe 11, so that the pump can be cut out of the system'if desired. The water 'condenser coil 6 can be by-passed by 'means of pipe 17 ,leading to the-pipe' 4 through connection- 18. Valves 70 19 land 20 are interposed in the pipe 17 and the branch pipel 5 canvbe closed by means of lvalve 21. The pumpv is so constructed that it may operate either as a vacuum pump or as a compressor pump. When it operates asa compressor pump, the valve 16 is closed and Athe valves 19 and 2O may be opened and the pump pressure maintained on thesystem, or the valve so closed andthe pressure pump operate direct' onthe receiving tank. When it is desired to operate the pump as a vacuum, the bypass is preferably cut out of the system. If it is desi-red Ato distill and condense under the pressure of the 'generated vapors alone, the valvesl and'19 are closed and the pressure regulated by the throttle valves -13 and' -15. If desired, a valve- 22 is interposed between the outlet side of the water condenser and the receiving tank 9. It is tobe under# The hydrocarbon oilfissubjected to the action of thefelectricv arc by-`cl0sing a .cir-

'cuit through the electrodes 23 and 24, which .may '2 be carbon electrodes Circuit through l the' electrodes is from the .motor generator l 00 set-25, rheostat 26,' amineter 27, voltmeter ...28, copper* lead 29, 'through :electrode v24,' "thence'toelectrode 235 to con'duCtorzSO, then .through Copper lead 31 and' 'back to-"the 1-5'- motor generatorset.

In operatingtheprocess, oil I,

or other hydrocarbon oil. motor gencr- 1 ator .s et. is then operated producing amare 110 ture and pressure gasoline and some benzine' are formed, but increasing the temperature at the same pressure causes the formation of benzene .hydrocarbons but not abun' dantly. An increase of pressure increases the benzine hydrocarbon formation at high temperatures, in other Words, 'an increase of pressure increases low boiling point hydrocarbons of the'saturated paraline series and aromatic hydrocarbons of the benzene series at temperatures roughly, 400 C. to

500 C. But with an increase of temperature at the same pressure. the'benzene hydrocarbons form more rapidly at the expense of the parafline hydrocarbons. When'it is desired to form saturated hydrocarbons, such as gasoline or the benzine series, the process is operated under pressure in the manner heretofore described. This pressure may Arange from substantially atmospheric pressure to 200 pounds to the square inch or more. If desired, fresh oil may be continuously fed into the still, thus making the process a continuous one. The temperature to which the oil'should be heated will, of

course, varywith the roduct Ydesired and the character of the oil being treated, but

it will, ho\vever,fbe treated sufficient to distill it. i

The following is atypical run made under a pressureof 8a3-pounds upon a gas oil of '36 Baume gravity obtained from an eastern crude oil. I produced .50% pressure distillate of 53 Baume gravity.v Thispressuredistillate contained 63% of gasolineof 58.5 gravity or 31.5% of gasoline on the basis of gas oil used.

'I claim as my invention:

' 1. 'A processof converting relatively high #boiling point hydrocarbons intolower boiling point hydrocarbons, consisting in externally heating a bulk supply of oil and inv simultaneously producing an electric Varc Within the body of said bulk supply of oil to heat the 'oil to a cracking temperature, in passing the evolved vapors through an aerial condenser' from which reflux' condensate returns to the bulk supply of oil, thence to a condenser and a receiver and in maintaining said bulk supply of o il under aselfgenerated superatmosphere vapor pressure.

2. A process of converting heavy hydrocarbons `into lower boiling point hydrocarbons to produce a substantial percentage of liquid motor fuel, consisting in continuously externally heating the bulkV supply of oil and in simultaneously producing an electric arc between electrodes emersed in said bulk supply of oil' to raise the oil to a conversion temperature, in passing the evolved vapors to a -condenser and in collecting the resulting distillate, and in maintaining a superatmospheric selfgenerated-vapor pressure on .the oil undergoing conversion.

GUsTAv EGLOFF. 

